Google, National Business League to help black businesses

The exterior with the colorful Google name at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018.(Photo: Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo

Google and the National Business League, the country’s oldest trade association for black businesses, will announce a partnership Monday in Detroit aimed at accelerating the growth of black business around the world.

The organizations will collaborate on a “range of strategic initiatives” including online training programs, business coaching, workshops and access to Google’s cloud-based solutions and tools, Google said in a news release Thursday.

“More businesses are looking online to grow,” Chris Genteel, director of Community & Business Inclusion at Google, said in the news release. “With this announcement, we look forward to providing resources to black business owners so they can also take advantage of the digital economy.”

The partnership connects the trade association’s pipeline of entrepreneurs and Google’s knowledge and technology advancements. In addition to Detroit, the partnership will be launched in several other regions including Atlanta, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. It will include more than 365 of the trade association’s leagues across the country and internationally.

Ken Harris, president, National Business League, called the partnership historic and said it “opens up a broad band of possibilities to offer superior technology to black entrepreneurs and other business owners of color throughout the world.”

He added that combining missions will help close the digital divide and will “create value in the marketplace, systematically transitioning” his organization’s “118-year-old legacy with the next generation of entrepreneurs into the future knowledge-based economy.”

“Google is committed to helping create economic opportunities for Americans and we are proud to partner with the National Business League to empower black entrepreneurs,” Genteel added.

The announcement Monday will be at Google’s new office at Little Caesars Arena. Google Detroit has about 100 employees focused on automotive and finance sales and cloud services.

Read or Share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2018/11/18/google-national-business-league-detroit/2026214002/